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Been to quite a few places in the south, with Gatlinburg being the most visited. I love the south, but find it a bit too racist and homophobic to ever move too. It really isn't that far from Windsor either, only a 4 hour drive and you're in Kentucky, but it seems like another world sometimes, especially outside of the major cities.
Most people here in the south are not racist. In fact I think the races get along better here than many other parts of the country (US). Racist people do exist of course, but the vast majority do not have racial chips on their shoulders and get along with others just fine. There are no more racist people here than anywhere else. Thanks to hollywierd everyone thinks the south is just like the movie Mississippi Burning. I have no idea about Canadian race issues so I wont comment on that.
As far as the so called "homophobic" nature of the south, well yes this is a more religious and conservative place. The bible teaches that homosexuality is a sin, and most people believe that. That does not mean there is persecution of homosexuals, but it does mean that approval of that lifestyle choice is lower than in the more "progressive" areas up north. The word homophobic is ridiculous anyway, disapproval of homosexuality is not a fear, as the word suggests. I am sure that word was cooked up in an academic setting by leftist professors in order to make it easier to label and demean their opposition as ignorant and uneducated. The whole idea that homosexuals are persecuted and mistreated in the south is just plain wrong, millions of them live here without issues. I think its fair to point out that there is a large portion of the US population in general that still believes homosexuality is a sin, not just the south. I bet that even in Canada many people believe its a sin, but in Canada you have to be careful about talking about it. The hate speech laws there can get you in real trouble.
This thread has shown many people judging the south, criticizing the values here and the people. I like the south the way it is and have no interest in seeing it changed to suit the approval of outsiders. IMO it should stay conservative and religious.
It's been a lot of years since I was down there but I've been down South 9 times.... used to go with my family every summer for many years. We would usually head to Memphis, TN, staying overnight in Kentucky on the way there and back. We also would often drive into rural Mississippi and one year we went and stayed a couple days down in Louisiana too and visited New Orleans.
My impressions were....
The people are very friendly and hospitable (save the racially tense situations we found ourselves in several times) and the countryside is beautiful. I absolutely loved the countryside although the heat was oppressive.
We were quite shaken up by some situations that were full of racial tension (stopping in a certain part of town where we apparently weren't welcome, trying to visit W.C. Handy Park in Memphis one evening when it became extremely apparent that we were unwelcome, being told that we were "fair game" if we walked down a main drag in Memphis after a certain hour of night (and not very late at that.) Remarkably, I will report that in a couple very threatening situations re racial tension, as soon as it was known that we were from Canada, BANG.... everything was cool and we were welcome again.
I have to say I didn't feel safe on many occasions down South. Between the racial tensions, the areas we were supposed to know not to go into, seeing iron bars on so many houses, seeing bullet holes in the office doors in an office building we visited (and having our host treat them as a very common occurrence,) having a security guard from the hotel follow myself and my sister around talking about Memphis being the "rape capital", etc. etc. Armed security guards at every motel it seemed (which at that time wasn't something we'd see here even though we lived in a huge tourism mecca at home,) and just a general feeling of being threatened different times when approached (ex. Friday night in the French Quarter in New Orleans, someone begged us in a way that felt threatening and made us decide to leave and go back to the hotel.) We were also told repeatedly on a Sunday afternoon in the French Quarter that we should not be out walking around (my Mom and myself) which was totally shocking to hear. When I said I wanted to go visit the Walled City of the Dead nearby, we were told not to go in there as locals hung around there to rob tourists. And these were shopkeepers warning us not to be out on the street or visiting that site on a Sunday afternoon!
Other than the above, hearing some Southern white friends refer to blacks as "high yellows" and "******s" and saying they wouldn't let their children go to school with them was jaw-dropping. It was something we never experienced before and never for a moment thought we'd hear from a family that we had come to know as so gracious and wonderful up to that point. (They were from South Carolina.) I can't say we really got into any in-depth conversations with any other whites down there, just small talk stuff but the other family we had known and corresponded with for some time and therefore I guess they felt safe to act normally but it was quite a shocker that I will never forget. Our relationship faded fast after that as we couldn't get over the attitude. We did argue with them about this and they continued in their mindset and we found we were too far apart in how we thought to continue on long as friends.
Sorry for the novel, but I have a lot of memories of my 9 trips to the South and the differences I noted...
The last time we were in New Orleans was in the mid-90s and the French Quarter was teaming with police. We were told the French Quarter was quite safe and that the police presence had been ramped up there in order to protect tourists. But at the same time it seemed that every casual conversation we got into with locals there, someone was warning us about blacks - the n word would start to slip out and then they would quickly change it.
We were also told not to go to the tombs and that people waited there in order to rob people. And that while the French Quarter was safe, not to venture out of it. But I think that the city at one point had the reputation of being one of the most corrupt and violent cities in the US. I am not sure it is representative of the south and what it is like now I don't know.
We have friends from here who have lived in New Orleans many years - work, which was meant to be temporary, and then the kids came along, etc. And they said that they used to be shocked at the casual dropping of the n word and the way people segregated themselves in gated communities and made a point of living in a regular neighbourhood for a while, and then the crime got so bad they gave up and moved to a gated community as well. But it's home to them now, some 40 plus years later.
At the same time I would like to say as well that these things notwithstanding, I quite passionately loved New Orleans. I will certainly be back one of these days.
We were also told not to go to the tombs and that people waited there in order to rob people. And that while the French Quarter was safe, not to venture out of it. But I think that the city at one point had the reputation of being one of the most corrupt and violent cities in the US. I am not sure it is representative of the south and what it is like now I don't know.
At the same time I would like to say as well that these things notwithstanding, I quite passionately loved New Orleans. I will certainly be back one of these days.
I will say, living in Houston, most of what you hear about problems in the south, or the US in general is a lot of hyperbole, except about NOLA.
It is massively dangerous outside of the tourist areas. If you wander a few blocks north of the Quarter, you're in the middle of Treme, which is one of the most violent ghettos in the US. Gangs in NOLA are notoriously violent, and in fact after Katrina, a large number of gangs in Houston were wiped out by much smaller groups coming in from New Orleans due to their willingness to escalate the situation.
That being said, stay within your sandbox, and New Orleans is a wonderful place with amazing food, amazing music and warm welcoming people.
Most people here in the south are not racist. In fact I think the races get along better here than many other parts of the country (US). Racist people do exist of course, but the vast majority do not have racial chips on their shoulders and get along with others just fine. There are no more racist people here than anywhere else. Thanks to hollywierd everyone thinks the south is just like the movie Mississippi Burning. I have no idea about Canadian race issues so I wont comment on that.
As far as the so called "homophobic" nature of the south, well yes this is a more religious and conservative place. The bible teaches that homosexuality is a sin, and most people believe that. That does not mean there is persecution of homosexuals, but it does mean that approval of that lifestyle choice is lower than in the more "progressive" areas up north. The word homophobic is ridiculous anyway, disapproval of homosexuality is not a fear, as the word suggests. I am sure that word was cooked up in an academic setting by leftist professors in order to make it easier to label and demean their opposition as ignorant and uneducated. The whole idea that homosexuals are persecuted and mistreated in the south is just plain wrong, millions of them live here without issues. I think its fair to point out that there is a large portion of the US population in general that still believes homosexuality is a sin, not just the south. I bet that even in Canada many people believe its a sin, but in Canada you have to be careful about talking about it. The hate speech laws there can get you in real trouble.
This thread has shown many people judging the south, criticizing the values here and the people. I like the south the way it is and have no interest in seeing it changed to suit the approval of outsiders. IMO it should stay conservative and religious.
Conservative and religious describes the south to a tee, backwards and intolerant describes the south outside of the big cities to a tee. Your term "outsiders" says it all.
I will say, living in Houston, most of what you hear about problems in the south, or the US in general is a lot of hyperbole, except about NOLA.
It is massively dangerous outside of the tourist areas. If you wander a few blocks north of the Quarter, you're in the middle of Treme, which is one of the most violent ghettos in the US. Gangs in NOLA are notoriously violent, and in fact after Katrina, a large number of gangs in Houston were wiped out by much smaller groups coming in from New Orleans due to their willingness to escalate the situation.
That being said, stay within your sandbox, and New Orleans is a wonderful place with amazing food, amazing music and warm welcoming people.
Has nothing changed crime-wise after Katrina?
I've never had better food than I had in New Orleans.
Living in a place that is very frequently judged by outsiders and lectured by them about the "right way" to do things, I don't see why I should be judgemental or preachy towards people in the southern U.S.
I don't see it as any of my business frankly. Especially since they've never done anything to me and have always been perfectly nice to me on the occasions I've been down there.
Location: East Central Pennsylvania/ Chicago for 6yrs.
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I'm just saying. I enjoyed reading the thread and so many in-depth sincere comments with no arguing, as so many threads on C-D can go too. I am not from the Southern US or Canada. But did enjoy reading through anyway. Great thread so far.
Living in a place that is very frequently judged by outsiders and lectured by them about the "right way" to do things, I don't see why I should be judgemental or preachy towards people in the southern U.S.
I don't see it as any of my business frankly. Especially since they've never done anything to me and have always been perfectly nice to me on the occasions I've been down there.
The "A" comes through again. As always, you are the voice of reason, fair-mindedness, and civility here on CD.
It cracks me up the way people who have never lived in the South think they're experts on it because they've seen movies about it or visited the region a couple of times.
Last edited by newdixiegirl; 04-16-2015 at 07:06 AM..
Conservative and religious describes the south to a tee, backwards and intolerant describes the south outside of the big cities to a tee. Your term "outsiders" says it all.
Have you ever lived in the South?
You know, definitions of "conservative" and "religious" are relative. As a Canadian born and raised in diverse, "secular," "liberal" southern Ontario and Montreal (where millions of parents choose to enroll their kids in taxpayer-funded Roman Catholic schools. There ain't NO taxpayer-funded religious schools down here), I find PLENTY of smaller cities and towns (and some other not so smaller ones) in Canada and the northern states to be quite conservative, and, yes, more religious than what I (and, perhaps you) am used to.
My former in-laws in rural Manitoba are fundamentalist Christians who have conservative attitudes about many things. My late MIL in Owen Sound was the same. But that doesn't bother ME. I firmly believe in Live and Let Live. I also believe in the principle of freedom of religion, which guarantees any US or Canadian citizen his/her right to freely (and peacefully) assemble and practice his/her religion, but should also guarantee one's right to practice one's religion WITHOUT RIDICULE.
And, having lived in Metro Detroit for years, my own opinion is that southeast Michigan and southwestern Ontario are pretty darn conservative, comparatively speaking.
Are you, in your judgment of millions of people in the South, practicing that famous Canadian "tolerance"? What kind of "tolerance" IS that, exactly? Seems pretty selective to me.
BTW, I'm liberal-leaning and not particularly religious, so don't be rushing to judge me the way you have all the "backwards" people in the US South.
Last edited by newdixiegirl; 04-16-2015 at 07:16 AM..
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